Strictly star Amy Dowden's cancer journey in full - first symptom to 'tough love' decision

Amy Dowden's whole world changed when she found a lump on her chest last year.

The professional dancer, 34, first graced our screens in 2017 when she made her Strictly Come Dancing debut, and in the years following, she shared her experience of living with Crohn's disease to raise awareness. Then in May 2023, she announced the devastating news that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer.

From the get-go, she expressed her wish to get straight back on the dancefloor as soon as her treatment was finished. And earlier this year, she joined the 2024 cast of Strictly after being given the all-clear. Sadly, on Saturday night, Amy fell 'unwell' during filming and an ambulance was called as a precaution.

A representative for Amy stated: "She is feeling much better and would like to thank the Strictly family for their love and concern. We request Amy's privacy in matters of health is kindly respected." As she recovers from her illness, The Mirror takes a look back at everything Amy has overcome...

In May 2023, Amy, who is married to co-star Ben Jones, wrote on Instagram: "Hey all, I've got some news which isn't easy to share. I've recently been diagnosed with breast cancer but I'm determined to get back on that dance floor before you know it."

The dancer went on to speak about the first moment she discovered a lump in her breast, a day before her honeymoon to the Maldives with Ben in April 2023. She had only just begun checking herself, following a charity trek with the breast cancer charity CoppaFeel!.

"I was in the shower and I felt this hard lump in my right breast. I was in shock; I checked again," she told HELLO! Magazine. After realising the lump had grown while on holiday, Amy went to see her GP and was sent for an emergency referral. It was then she was suddenly diagnosed with aggressive stage three breast cancer.

"You just don't ever think it's going to happen to you. I hadn't thought it was possible to get breast cancer at my age," she continued, explaining that her mum had breast cancer in her fifties. That month, Amy underwent a mastectomy and surgeons removed three tumours and further cancer specks, plus some lymph nodes from her right breast.

But days afterwards, doctors discovered a second type of breast cancer in the tissue they removed, plus more tumours, including one close to her chest, and specks in her other breast. It came as a huge shock to Amy. She was advised to have chemotherapy, but her first reaction was to refuse it.

"I thought that's Strictly with a partner wiped out, that's my hair gone, that's my life gone. I was like, I don't want to do that," she told the Mirror. While her surgeon kept telling her she could "dance forever and ever afterwards", Amy was adamant she didn't want to do it - until her former dance teacher stepped in.

Amy was undergoing IVF to create and freeze embryos at the time, hoping she and Ben might still have children. "She gave me tough love and said, 'What's the point of these embryos if you're not going to have chemo? Because you won't be around to have these babies anyway'," Amy said. She finally decided chemo was right.

But sadly, her first and second cycles didn't go to plan, resulting in emergency hospital stays and life-threatening complications. First came sepsis, then blood clots. "They said my blood pressure was that low my vital organs would have started failing," Amy said of the first cycle. "We met the paramedics a week later and they said if I had gone to bed that night I might not have woken up the next morning."

Assured by her oncologist that she had been unlucky, Amy pressed ahead with her second cycle of chemo, only to be faced again by terrifying circumstances. "I got blood clots, I ended up back in hospital," she explained, adding that it was "frightening". Amy recovered and as chemo continued, her hair began falling out at home, which was a horrific experience for her.

"I found losing my hair really traumatic and it didn't matter how much I prepared for it I couldn't even brush my own hair in the end I couldn't even look in the mirror in the end because I was bald in top," she said.

In September 2023, she made the decision to shave her head and filmed it to post on Instagram. "We all did it together, my friends and family got together, we tried to make it as fun as possible," Amy explained. "They inspired me and I want to use my platform to give others the courage and strength they need."

Then in November, Amy told fans she was 'proud of herself' as she shared a health update after ringing the chemotherapy bell, marking the end of her treatment. In a heartfelt post, she opened up about the milestone moment, alongside a video of her hugging multiple hospital staff before ringing the bell as she teared up.

She said: "I rang the bell and I'm so thankful I got to! My toughest journey yet! These past few months I look back and think how did my body get through this both physically and mentally. From the words, 'I'm so sorry Amy, it's cancer' and, 'What's your fertility plans?' to having a mastectomy, two weeks later, hormone daily injections for egg retrieval, a little Crohn's flare up and then on to chemo, plus shutting down my ovaries on the same day which sadly led to sepsis, blood clots, losing my hair, my eyebrows, lashes (I have a few hanging in there) and three toenails."

Amy continued: "But also it's taken away my love of life these past few months and of course my DANCING! It's been tough. But hopefully has now given me chance of more life which I'm eternally grateful for and I will never take for granted again. I'll never be the same Amy again but, what I do know is I'm so much stronger than I ever knew and I have made the most amazing friends along the way."

In February this year, the Strictly pro revealed her health check showed "no evidence of disease", describing the news from doctors as "words I dreamed of" and her "biggest accomplishment yet".